Grilled Vegetables

Roasted or grilled vegetables, especially if they have been marinated in some yummy marinade first, is quite a treat, don't you think? Fresh from the oven or grill, slightly charred or smoky depending on how the vegetables were treated, just a touch of fresh herbs and olive oil...

D offered to make a meal as I had a nasty migraine and my work week was horribly stressful. So, I naturally felt obligated to chop up the vegetables and marinate them :-)

I know, I agree, it is odd that rather than resting and awaiting the meal to be served, I *had* to get it "ready" first...

Now, ordinarily, D is fully capable of chopping, marinating and grilling the vegetables all by himself. But, when he throws a trap like, "Oh, your marinade is very good and you get them all neat and pretty", I fall for it completely and end up doing all the "prep" work. Despite the nasty headache...

Anyway, I guess it was worth it as the vegetables turned out just perfect and we had a nice meal... and my headache? well, it lingered overnight and reluctantly left me the next day.

Marinade is simple this time: some kecap manis (or soy sauce + brown sugar), Tabasco® sauce (or chili powder), coriander powder, canola oil - adjust to taste. (alternately, just throw together your favorite herbs and spices for the marinade).

Vegetables: this time we had asparagus handy, plus bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, summer squash, eggplant.

I prefer to par cook the vegetables before marinating, so they don't take too long to cook up on the grill.

Marinate for about 30 minutes while the grill is getting hot. Throw them in the grill basket, in batches if preferred, at high heat and let them char a bit... the brown sugar helps carmelize.